Rikiya Imaizumi

The Borderline Between Friends with Benefits and Lovers

The subject of "Are we friends with benefits (FWB) or are we in a real relationship?" is tackled in this series of seven episodes.

Release Date2025-09-03

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Charactersd

Episode Count3

I Catch a Terrible Cat

Mr. Takada is a successful mature writer who falls into a creative blockade following the death of her wife. Incapable of finishing the novel his fans demand anxiously, and about to turn seventy, he starts wandering several pubs in the city, until he meets Sayo, a beautiful young waitress with sentimental issues she doesn’t hesitate to share with her clients.

Release Date2011-11-25

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Charactersd

Vote Count1

Owatteru

Release Date2011-03-05

DepartmentWriting

JobScreenplay

Charactersd

Vote Count1

此の糸

Release Date2005-01-01

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Charactersd

Sounds of Winter

After past breakups and unfulfilled romances leave novelist Ayana reluctant to truly fall in love, she tries to face her current relationship sincerely.

Release Date2026-01-14

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Episode Count10

Vote Count2

Time Limit Investigator

Shūichirō Kiriyama works at the Limitation Task Force, the place where the cases which have reached the statute of limitations are destroyed. Getting bored of his job, he decides to find a hobby, because it seems important to him to have a hobby. So he decides to puzzle out the unsolved cases on his free time, helped by his coworker Mikazuki, who seems to have a crush on him.

Release Date2006-01-13

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Episode Count2

Vote Count10

Teasing Master Takagi-san

Takagi loves playing good-natured pranks on her classmate Nishikata. But try as he might, he can never prank her back — she's just too clever!

Release Date2024-04-02

DepartmentWriting

JobScreenplay

Episode Count8

Vote Count15

Call Me Chihiro

An unapologetic former sex worker starts working at a bento stand in a small seaside town, bringing comfort to the lonely souls who come her way.

Release Date2023-02-23

DepartmentWriting

JobScreenplay

Vote Count144

1122: For a Happy Marriage

Ichiko and Otoya are happily married, despite not having sex for the last two years. The secret to their happiness is Otoya's affair with Mitsuki, which Ichiko approves. Everything is going well until Otoya rejects Ichiko's advances on the night of their seventh anniversary. In shock, Ichiko seeks advice from her friend who suggests she exercise her right to have a boyfriend of her own.

Release Date2024-06-14

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Episode Count7

Vote Count6

Sailor Zombie

Sailor Zombie was a TV-Tokyo Drama which featured members of AKB48 in its main casts, some of their guests are also from AKB48. It's title theme song Sailor Zombie was sung by the sub-unit Milk Planet who are also in the Drama as narrators.

Release Date2014-04-19

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Episode Count4

Vote Count4

His - I Didn't Think I Would Fall in Love

Nagisa is 17 years old and attends second grade in high school. He is apart from his parents and lives alone in the seaside town of Fujisawa in Kanagawa. He is passionate about surfing and works at a bathhouse in a hostel on the island Enoshima linked to Fujisawa. Shun is the same age as Nagisa and visits Fujisawa for spring break. They meet and develop a relationship more than friendship. However, the surfing equipment store owner's daughter, Chika, has been secretly in love with Nagisa.

Release Date2019-04-09

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Episode Count3

Vote Count13

Chloe et Emma

Having lost love, her job, and her home, Emma had hit rock bottom when she stumbled upon the estate of Chloe, a mysterious heiress. Unexpected happenings lead the two of them to become housemates, and together, they open a fortune-telling shop where troubled souls come searching for answers. The pair soon realize that each client's problem comes with hidden secrets and mysteries.

Release Date2026-06-12

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Episode Count5

Vote Count1

A Day-Off of Kasumi Arimura

Kasumi Arimura suddenly gets a break from filming and returns to her hometown for the first time in a long while. Her mother, Yumiko, comes to the train station to pick her up and they head for the family home.

Release Date2020-03-21

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Episode Count2

Vote Count6

Oh My Jump!: Shonen Jump Saves the World

A timid salesman is introduced to a secret club where cosplaying Weekly Shonen Jump superfans awaken their inner-heroes to overcome life’s challenges.

Release Date2018-01-13

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Episode Count2

Hana Sugisaki's Filming Break

Depicts how Hana Sugisaki spends her days off during breaks in shooting dramas and movies.

Release Date2023-02-10

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Episode Count1

Vote Count4

His

Shun and Nagisa first meet and fall in love during their first year of high school. While Shun is graduating from university, Nagisa tells him that he doesn't see a future for them. Despite Shun's strong feelings, they go their separate ways. Years later, Shun is now a store owner, living alone in a rural area. Out of the blue, Nagisa arrives with his six-year-old daughter, Sora. Spending time together, Shun realizes he still harbors feelings for Nagisa. Can Nagisa reconcile with his feelings for Shun, which have been there all along?

Release Date2020-01-24

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Vote Count29

Love Nonetheless

Koji runs a second-hand bookstore. He likes female drummer Ichihana, but, suddenly, female high school student Misaki appears in front of him and keeps confesses her feelings for him.

Release Date2022-02-25

DepartmentWriting

JobScreenplay

Vote Count9

Teasing Master Takagi-san

Takagi, now grown up, revisits her middle school as a trainer. She encounters Nishikata, her former classmate she used to tease, now a PE teacher there. Their playful dynamic resumes, leading to more interactions between the two.

Release Date2024-05-31

DepartmentWriting

JobScreenplay

Vote Count18

What Is Love?

Teruko is a 28-year-old office worker. 5 months ago, she fell in love with Mamoru at first sight. Since that time, she has not cared about her work or her friends. She then loses her job and her friends look at her coldly. Yet, Teruko is happy as long as she is with Mamoru. Meanwhile, Mamoru thinks Teruko is an easy woman for him to not love. Teruko's unrequited love grows deeper.

Release Date2019-04-09

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Vote Count13

Little Nights, Little Love

Sato is an employee conducting a survey in front of Sendai Station. Saki takes the survey and the two ultimately become a couple. 10 years later, Sato proposes to Saki on the occasion of their 10th anniversary.

Release Date2019-09-20

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Vote Count16

Sad Tea

The romantic ensemble piece revolves around a filmmaker who wants to stop cheating on his girlfriends, a fan who continues to pine for an idol, and a former idol who goes to meet him, while also contemplating the true meaning of 'proper love.'

Release Date2013-10-19

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Vote Count4

EA's Rock

The super sentai group Kankaku Senshi Gokan Five have protected the earth but with the start of a more peaceful period, the members have drifted apart. Gokan Red and Gokan Blue run a bar with an airsoft shooting range, which takes up most of their time. But Red still feels its their responsibility to be prepared and he tries to find a replacement for Gokan Peach, who died in battle 10 years ago. He has high hopes for Momoka, a 17-year old school girl, who just wanted a part-time job a the bar and isn't yet sure about joining the Gokan Five.

Release Date2012-04-09

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Episode Count4

Gozen 3-ji no muhou chitai

Release Date2013-03-20

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Episode Count12

Our Blue Moment

Bakery employee Ichii Fumi holds a peculiar outlook on marriage: "I doubt anyone would love me forever, and I'm doubtful I can love someone forever." One day, Fumi meets the focus of her very first crush, Yuasa Tamotsu. Over time, the distance between Fumi, who broke up with her boyfriend for being unable to reach a decision about marriage, and Tamotsu, who still pines for the wife he divorced, begins to grow closer.

Release Date2018-02-17

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Vote Count9

Mellow

Seiichi is the owner of a flower shop. He enjoys his peaceful single life. Kiho runs the ramen restaurant left to her by her father, but she's thinking of closing it.

Release Date2020-01-17

DepartmentWriting

JobScreenplay

Vote Count10

Straying

A couple who are about to divorce argue over who should take custody over their pet cat. The cat flees and disappears due to the human commotions, causing connections and revelations to be revealed.

Release Date2022-03-18

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Vote Count3

Over the Town

Arakawa Ao lives happily on his own and hardly ever leaves Shimokitazawa, where he works at a vintage clothing shop, goes to occasional concerts and hangs out at his favorite bar. Then, he gets an unusual request to appear in an independent film.

Release Date2019-10-13

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Vote Count15

Their Distance

Reon is a young Korean man. He avoids contact with other people and works as an apprentice shoemaker. One after, he sees a woman Sona passed out and sleeping on a bench in the park. Reon doesn't know why, but he can't get her out of his mind. Meanwhile, Kokaze works in the same shoe shop with Reon and has feelings for him.

Release Date2016-01-09

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Vote Count10

Undercurrent

Kanae's husband disappeared without a trace while on a union trip. Though usually headstrong and independent, the woman becomes plagued with worry over what happened to him, and is unable to move on with her life. Thus, Kanae decides to hire a private investigator, and keeps running the public bathhouse to the best of her abilities. As he tries to figure out the truth about her husband, Kanae must deal with the stress from a work-intensive job, meddlesome neighbors, and recurring nightmares in which she is drowning.

Release Date2023-10-06

DepartmentWriting

JobScreenplay

Vote Count10

In Those Days

Having failed to get into graduate school, with no girlfriend, no money, and no prospects of success with his band, Tsurugi's life has reached rock bottom. One day, after watching the video of Aya Matsuura's song “Momoiro Kataomoi”, he becomes obsessed with the idol singers of “Hello! Project”, and plunges into the idol geek lifestyle. However, as time passes, he and his buddies all find other things just as important as the idols and begin to move on.

Release Date2021-02-19

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Vote Count6

By the Window

Inagaki Goro plays a freelance writer married to his editor wife (Nakamura Yuri), who he discovers is having an affair with the popular novelist she is responsible for at work. Although troubled, he can’t bring himself to confront his wife. He later meets a high school novelist at a literary award ceremony, and–drawn to the award-winning book–he inquires about the model it’s based on, thinking he’d like to meet that person…

Release Date2022-11-04

DepartmentWriting

JobScreenplay

Vote Count5

Sister Game

Sister Game is a brother-sister romantic comedy that follows the daily life of Gorō Hōzuki, a high school boy with an older sister named Haru who is unrelated by blood. Gorō is mortified when the self-centered and lustful Haru plays pranks on him.

Release Date2014-09-06

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Vote Count5

Skeleton Flowers

High school student, Yo, lived with her father, Nao, after her mother, Sachiyo, left the family when she was very young. However, their life together came to an end and they started a new life as a family of four with her father's second marriage partner, Miko, and her stepdaughter, four-year-old Hinata. She confides in Riku, who belongs to the same art club as Yo, about her confusion about this new life. Yo, who has been developing curiosity for her biological mother, Sachiyo, promises to go with Riku to Sachiyo's art exhibition.

Release Date2021-10-15

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Vote Count8

Virgin

Omnibus by three young directors in the spotlight of Japan’s independent film industry, dealing with the theme of “lost virginity.” Yoshida Koki, whose film {Household X} was an official selection for the Berlin International Film Festival’s Forum, depicts a woman in her thirties losing her virginity. Kazuyo (Masaki Sawa) is a 35-year-old pharmacist living quietly on her own. One day, her interest is piqued by the pseudo-sexual harassment approach of Ryo (Yanagi Shuntaro), a high school youth, and her body gets a taste of sexual desire.

Release Date2012-05-12

DepartmentWriting

JobScreenplay

What Is Love?

Release Date2020-01-24

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Episode Count1

Vote Count1

Same Old, Same Old

Focusing on the lives (and a few deaths) of three filmmakers, Rikiya Imaizumi (Their Distance, Sad Tea) tackles weighty themes in this new ensemble drama set in Tokyo and Fukushima. Director Kajiwara, struggling to earn a living from film, gets an offer to do a music video. But it doesn’t go well and he finds himself in an unexpected situation. Actress Aoba witnesses her filmmaker boyfriend's suicide and decides to hide his body. Gardener Taro plans to close the family business he inherits from his father, but receives a phone call one night from the self-declared girlfriend of his estranged twin, Jiro.

Release Date2016-11-19

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Vote Count2

nico

Independent film by director Rikiya Imaizumi, featured on MOOSIC LAB 2012.

Release Date2012-03-20

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Vote Count1

A film of TAMA

A documentary featuring the band Tama who created a sensation in 1990. They enjoyed great success, but disbanded after one of the members left. All four former members are continuing with music in their own styles. The film focuses on the three former members: Ishikawa Koji, Takimoto Koji, and Chiku Toshiaki. The film carefully captures the musicians who keep creating and expressing music through their own unique lives that still mesmerizes audiences. The director Imaizumi Rikiya is a rising star whose past independent work has won many awards at Japan's film festivals. It is his first documentary and a debut for a commercial film.

Release Date2010-12-25

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

TUESDAYGIRL

A comedy about marriage versus break-up, honesty versus lies. Sekiguchi and Takagi are a young couple about to get married. Meanwhile Kimura can't tell his girlfriend Tashiro that he got laid off her of his job. One day, Tashiro dumps Kimura and Sekiguchi meets his ex-girlfriend to inform her of his upcoming marriage...

Release Date2011-02-26

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Introduction to Marriage Studies

Sana Ikegami (Yuri Nakamura), 38, who works as the editor-in-chief of a popular magazine, prioritizes her work and her own time over romance. She has a perfect routine for machine pilates, a particular diet, supplements, and beauty treatments, and relieves her loneliness with a sex friend...she leads a fulfilling life. [Episode 6 of the miniseries "The Borderline Between Friends with Benefits and Lovers"]

Release Date2025-09-03

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

最低

Release Date2009-11-22

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

tarpaulin

Release Date2013-10-15

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Special Person

"Shall we do it today...?" "Either way." "Well, I guess we won't do it today then." While drying her hair with a hairdryer, Tomoko Kawabata (Mizuki Yamashita) playfully blows air on Kazuki Fujiwara (Sojiro Yoshimura) as he brushes his teeth. The two frolic around like a close couple, but they are not lovers; their relationship is more ambiguous, like that of friends who also have sex. [Episode 7 of the miniseries "The Borderline Between Friends with Benefits and Lovers"]

Release Date2025-09-03

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

冬の朝

A short film written and directed by Rikiya Imaizumi, based on the song "Tomodachi no Uta" by ZOOKARADERU.

Release Date2025-03-19

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

ashide

Masao (Serizawa Tateto) works part time at a convenience store, and suddenly gets hit on by a cute high school student (Aoyagi Fumiko) who frequents the store. But, Masao has his own love interest and turns her down. However, it seems the person he's interested in has a boyfriend, and the high school girl says she knows him…

Release Date2011-02-26

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

If Only We Are Lovers

One day, 26-year-old Toko Tanabe(Seina Nakata) begins to be attracted to Satoshi Matsuyama (Daichi Kaneko), who is the same age as her and whom she meets.They have lively conversations over meals, he is kind, and they share the same hobbies and wavelengths... One day on a date, Toko drinks until the last train, and Matsuyama ends up staying at her house, where she spends the night with him. [Episode 5 of the miniseries "The Borderline Between Friends with Benefits and Lovers"]

Release Date2025-09-03

DepartmentWriting

JobScreenplay

I Still Want to See Dreams

This Hulu original tells the story of Maeda Yumeko, a university student who chases her dreams as she aspires to become a manga artist. One day, she wins an award from a major publisher’s manga magazine. As a result, she teams up with hitmaker editor Mutsuki(?) to aim for her debut one-shot publication. However, Yumeko soon encounters the hardships of creation, fails to demonstrate her true potential and is rejected. Unable to regain her self confidence, she decides to take on the next major competition, the “Manga Future Grand Prize.” She tackles the romance genre for the first time, but struggles daily to draw what she truly wants. However, one night the manga she is working on materializes in her dream, and within it, she meets a man named Kanato who doesn’t act the way she wants him to.

Release Date2024-07-26